Midnight at Malabar House

Author/Guide: Vaseem Khan

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1949: The first in a new series set in Bombay

ISBN: 978-1473685468
Genre: Crime

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What you need to know before your trail

As India celebrates the arrival of a momentous new decade, Inspector Persis Wadia stands vigil in the basement of Malabar House, home to the city’s most unwanted unit of police officers. Six months after joining the force she remains India’s first female police detective, mistrusted, sidelined and now consigned to the midnight shift.

And so, when the phone rings to report the murder of prominent English diplomat Sir James Herriot, the country’s most sensational case falls into her lap.

As 1950 dawns and India prepares to become the world’s largest republic, Persis, accompanied by Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, finds herself investigating a case that is becoming more political by the second. Navigating a country and society in turmoil, Persis, smart, stubborn and untested in the crucible of male hostility that surrounds her, must find a way to solve the murder – whatever the cost.

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Welcome to the Mumbai of Vaseen Khan

The novel is set at the time of the Partition of India and there are lots of historical references and asides to allow you to appreciate and learn about the time and place without it overshadowing the novel or plot.

Persis Wadia is a female police officer. The author explains that in real life, the first female police inspector didn’t actually come along in India until the early 1960s but that he used her as a template for the officer in his book. The interesting setting here is the male domain of the Indian police.

The period is incredibly intriguing. It’s just after Indian Independence, the horrors of Partition and the assassination of Gandhi. Social and political turmoil is rife in the country. Yet Bombay remains cosmopolitan, with thousands of foreigners still in the city.